Spotted bur-clover

Medicago arabica (spotted bur-clover, spotted medick) is a sprawling annual herb of the legume family (Fabaceae), growing 20–60 cm long with prostrate to ascending, slightly grooved, sparingly hairy stems that branch freely from a slender taproot. The alternate, long-stalked trifoliate leaves bear three obovate to broadly heart-shaped leaflets 1–3 cm long with finely toothed apical margins; each leaflet is characteristically marked with a single conspicuous dark purplish-black blotch in the centre, giving the species its common name, though occasional plants have leaves with more than three leaflets. From April to August the leaf axils produce short-stalked, few-flowered (1–5) racemes of small pale yellow pea-like flowers 4–6 mm long. The fruit is a distinctive small, hard, tightly coiled cylindrical legume 4–6 mm in diameter forming 3–6 spiral turns and conspicuously armed with rows of stout hooked spines that cling readily to fur and clothing, aiding dispersal. Native to the Mediterranean region and now widely naturalised across Europe, North America, Australasia, and elsewhere, it grows in clifftop grasslands, sandy coastal turf, arable margins, lawns, and other open grassy places.